WASHINGTON: Prosecutors and defence attorneys presented their closing arguments on Monday in the racially charged trial of three white men accused of murder in the southern US state of Georgia for shooting dead a black man after chasing him in their pickup trucks.
The three defendants have said they suspected Arbery was a burglar who had been active in their neighbourhood and invoked a since-repealed Georgia state law that allows ordinary citizens to make arrests. The McMichaels, who were armed with a shotgun and a handgun, and Bryan, who was unarmed, chased Arbery based on"assumptions and driveway decisions," she said.
There is only one black juror on the 12-member jury hearing the case, although about 25 per cent of the 85,000 residents of Glynn County, where the trial is taking place, are black.Jason Sheffield, a lawyer for Travis McMichael, said what happened was"horrifically tragic". Kevin Gough, Bryan's attorney, said his client had"no reason to know" that the McMichaels had guns, and his actions were"superfluous and irrelevant to the tragic death of Ahmaud Arbery".
The judge denied the request, saying that"individuals have a right to be outside" and there was no evidence that the jury had been exposed to the protests.
Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)